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Admin
Pupule
USA
4551 Posts |
 Posted - 04/26/2013 : 06:30:44 AM
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This is a recurring topic. I am sharing Mark Hanson's comments from a recent email.
April 22, 2013
Guitar Travel Strategy
CARRY-ON: Like most of you, I do my best to get my guitar on the airplane when I travel. If I know I can get the guitar on with me, I use my well-padded gig bag, which makes it easy to carry once I reach my destination. To ensure overhead space, I try to get on the plane early by sitting near the back, or (on SW) by getting an early boarding number.
CHECKING IT: If I must check the guitar - if I'm flying on a small plane with limited overhead space, for instance - I use the hardshell case. But to avoid having to carry that heavy case once I reach my destination, I fold a lightweight gig bag into my suitcase.
MY STRATEGY: I take the guitar in its hardshell case through TSA to the gate; then gate check it so it is hand-carried to the hold (loosen the strings!). Unless you have a Calton case or equivalent, avoid the convertor belt. After arrival, transfer the guitar to the gig bag so it is easier to carry around. You can get a workable one for $40 or so. Here is where I got mine:
<http://www.portlandmusiccompany.com/catalog/product_6514_Fender_Deluxe_Dreadnought_Gig_Bag_cat_304.html>
REALITY: These days, airlines are supposed to let you carry guitars on the plane - hardshell case or not - but my experience is that the employees are much less apt to hassle you if your guitar case doesn't appear to be dauntingly large. And, guys, wear a tie (so says Guy van Duser!).
Other strategies out there?
Mark
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Mark Hanson
Guitarist, Author, Educator
Website: www.AccentOnMusic.com
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Andy |
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chunky monkey
Ha`aha`a
USA
1022 Posts |
Posted - 04/26/2013 : 3:00:59 PM
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| Just yesterday I travelled to Kauai with my Taylor in a Calton case. I usually carry a VoyageAir on the plane with me, but decided that this time I would spring for the $50 extra and bring my Taylor. I'll be here for 3 weeks. Anyway, as I got on the flight to Kauai from Honolulu, I happened to see my red Calton sitting by itself on the back end of the luggage cart as it traveled away from the plane. I figured, "Well, so much for that strategy. It's insured." I got to Kauai and was hand-delivered the case, uninjured, by a Hawaiian Airlines employee. Sometimes, things work. |
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Russell Letson
`Olu`olu
USA
504 Posts |
Posted - 04/28/2013 : 07:12:31 AM
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I've been following a strategy much like Mark's for the last few years: my (insured) guitar travels in a very safe but very big-looking SuperCase*, while a TKL gig bag is folded up in my checked luggage. Of course, this dictates a main bag about half again as big as I would otherwise need for a week at swing camp, but I can't use a carry-on anyway unless I want to give up my toolkit, extra strings, and other TSA-unfriendly items. As a Minnesotan, I'm effectively locked into Delta, but the gate personnel and flight crews have been consistently laid-back and helpful when I show up with such an obvious beast. (Mostly I get the "Are we going to get a serenade?" joke.) Now that I look my age (eight years older than any of the flight-deck crew), I don't have to resort to a tie--trifocals, long pants, and a collared shirt are sufficient to establish my middle-class/suburban creds. For trips that don't require my swing instrument, I got a Taylor GS-Mini and a Travelite TL-60 hard-foam case that is much less scary-looking and that will fit in almost any overhead short of a Saab prop model's. That's the rig I'd take to Hawai`i next time.
* The SuperCase was sold for a few years by FQMS--a beige nylon-foam-and-wood monster that is just a step short of a Calton for sturdiness (and a step bigger in bulk). Despite its appearance, it fits in the overhead of any modern long-trip jet (and once even in a newer CR commuter jet), though it might get dirty looks from other passengers when it hogs most of the space.
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Guitar Travel Strategy
